These figures show that the Yankees payroll hasn't really grown much, if at all, in the past eight years, reaching a height in 2008 with the second highest coming back in 2005.

I find this all kind of curious for two reasons: 1) Payrolls throughout baseball generally have increased significantly during this 8 year period; and 2) Despite opening a new super stadium in 2009 and having steady revenue from the YES Network, the Yankees payroll has actually declined from its last year in the Old Stadium. This second fact is particularly odd because teams typically exhibit a surge in spending upon opening a new stadium. We saw it a few years back with the Twins and we're seeing it this offseason with the Marlins.

So why haven't the Yankees, with their new baseball palace and exorbitant ticket prices, experienced a boost in payroll? Here are a few thoughts:

The Payroll Tax: According to this website, through 2010 the Yankees paid almost $200 million in payroll tax penalties since the current tax system was implemented in 2003. The next most penalized team is the Red Sox at just $15.34 million. These figures make clear that the payroll tax is highly punitive and may be causing the Yankees to curtail their spending.

The counter argument, however, is that this system has been in place for almost a decade, with the Yankees payroll remaining fairly consistent during that time. So one would think that with the new stadium and a flow of revenue from the YES Network, the Yankees would be able to increase payroll, at least a little.The Economy: The economy tanked just as the new stadium opened, perhaps nullifying the financial boost from the new stadium. But on the other hand, payrolls throughout baseball have increased in general, even for teams whose stadiums pre-date the economic downturn, and teams that have opened stadiums in recent years (the Mets perhaps being a notable exception for various reasons), have implemented noticeable hikes in revenue, with the Twins and Marlins again being examples.

Planning Ahead: Perhaps years ago the Yankees financial braintrust sat down and looked to the future, including anticipating the new stadium as well as the payroll tax, and determined that roughly $200 million, give or take a few millions is what the team can spend on an annual basis.

The fact that the Yankees also have several expensive long-term veteran contracts may factor into this as well. For instance, in after the 2008 season, the Yankees shed quite a bit of payroll (notably Jason Giambi) and signed C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and A.J. Burnett to long-term deals, adding to the already ridiculous contract the team reached with Alex Rodriguez the prior offseason. In effect, the Yankees decided to make long-term expensive commits to several players and in doing so, determined to be stuck with a certain payroll for the next several years.

Again, however, this doesn't fully explain why the Yankees payroll hasn't really increased at all since the new stadium opened.

Missed Expectations: Lastly, perhaps the new stadium isn't the financial boon the Yankees thought it would be. While the Yankees have been first in attendance in all of baseball in each season since 2003, attendance has declined by approximately a half million fans since 2008, the last season in the Old Stadium, where attendance exceeded 4 million each of its last five seasons. Granted, the new stadium has a lower capacity, but simple observation indicates that the Yankees aren't selling tickets like they were in the last year's of the old place. Empty seats are far more common, particularly in the lower levels, and second hand ticket prices are frequent below to well below market value (depending on the day and opponent). In addition, it's where the seats are empty that may be hurting the Yankees the most. The cheaper seats have sold well for years, but in a struggling economy, the public seems less willing to splurge on fancy box seats, especially at the ludicrous prices at the new stadium which top four figures per game for some seats.

In all, it's tough to highlight one reason why the Yankees spending has plateaued, and it's likely a combination of all of the above factors. Nonetheless, it is somewhat odd that with a new stadium and a steady stream of television revenue, the Yankees aggressive spending seems to have reached its limits.